Gingers unite as League of Extraordinary Red Heads holds first meeting VIDEO

Duncan Crary of Troy, founder of The League of Extraordinary Red Heads, and other red heads holds first biannual meeting Wednesday, January 30, 2013 at Bootlegger's on Broadway in Troy. (J.S.Carras/The Record)

TROY -- No soul was safe inside Bootlegger's on Broadway Wednesday evening as a sea of red heads flocked to the bar for the inaugural biannual meeting of the League of Extraordinary Red Heads, where an extensive agenda was tackled.

As people walked through the front door of Bootlegger's, they were immediately greeted by a sign with the details of the agenda, which really only had two topics: Us and Them.

But for group founder Duncan Crary, the event was really just meant for red heads or "gingers" to meet up, have a few drinks and have a good time. He also believes there are a lot more red heads in the city than people realize.

"I started doing it because this city is up to its ears in red heads," Crary said. "And it seems to be increasing over the years. Every bar seems to have one working there."

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For the various red heads who were at Bootlegger's on Wednesday, the idea of a room full of gingers was a hilarious one and, since Crary said the stereotype that most are gregarious was true, it would be fun.

Sarah McGaughnea, an employee of Finbar's Pub, said she wasn't really sure what to expect when she heard a bar would be full of red heads as she was usually the only one in the room. But Crary's pitch was good enough for her.

"I was really excited," McGaughnea said. "Duncan has a good spiel. He sells it well."

Lauren Hittinger, director of communications and events at The Arts Center, said she had heard about the event just through knowing Crary, who claims to know every red head in the city. Hittinger was curious as to what the night would bring and thought the idea of having a gathering of the gingers could be fun.

"I thought it was a crazy idea," Hittinger said. "It's kind of goofy and silly. I figured it would be fun to see who would show up."

It is easy to be spotted in a crowd of people if you are a red head, said Anasha Cummings, who added he never really thought any of the stereotypes bestowed on gingers were ever really negative. The event itself, though, was an interesting experiment in getting a large number of people from a very narrow cross-section of the population together, meaning the main thing most of them had in common was the color of their hair.

"It's about getting people together," Cummings said.

Even if there wasn't a large congregation of gingers in the room, Crary said red heads can usually just sense when other red heads are in the room. It also helps that red heads tend to be more outgoing and energetic than others.

Kathleen Liebach, owner of Café Deli-icious doesn't dispute the claim red heads are considered to be lively, but also said they are also reportedly dangerous.

"People perceive us as feisty and dangerous, but why?" Liebach said. "It's because that's how we've been portrayed throughout history."

For Brendan Baxter, an employee of the Charles F. Lucas Confectionary, being a ginger is a point of pride.

"It lets people know of my Irish descent," Baxter said. "Because people know the Irish are hard workers. It cuts out a lot of B.S."

The meeting was the first of two for the year, Crary said, but he looks to play with the idea that people are afraid of not just having a ginger in the room, but being outnumbered by them as well. At an unannounced time at an undisclosed location, Crary said gingers will slowly, one-by-one, fill the area of a bar before people even notice the room is full of red heads. This was what he referred to as "The Red Tide."

"Not since the age of the Vikings have gingers posed a greater threat to world order," Crary said.